Merak Capital Leads $1.65M Round for Hakeem Health’s AI Hospital Tools

Merak Capital has led a $1.65 million investment round in Hakeem Health, joining forces with Sanabil 500 to back a young company building artificial intelligence tools for hospitals across the Gulf. For a region where healthcare systems are under serious pressure, it feels like more than just another funding announcement.

Hakeem Health, which operates between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, has developed HakeemDx, an AI-powered clinical decision support platform. In simple words, it plugs into a hospital’s existing systems, such as electronic medical records and laboratory platforms, and offers real-time, evidence-based guidance to doctors while they are treating a patient. It works in both Arabic and English, which is not a small detail in the GCC’s multilingual hospitals.

Across Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt, there are more than 2,000 hospitals. Many clinicians are expected to make high-stakes decisions quickly, often with patchy access to the latest research. Medical errors remain one of the most expensive and preventable challenges in healthcare worldwide. So the question is not whether support tools are needed, but whether they can be built in a way that doctors actually use.

I have seen, through conversations with founders in our Arageek community, how difficult it is to integrate anything into hospital workflows. If a product creates too many pop-ups or irrelevant alerts, clinicians simply tune it out. It becomes a bit of a faff. Clinical decision support only works when it sits naturally inside daily routines. That is where HakeemDx is positioning itself, fully integrated, using patient-specific data rather than generic references.

That difference matters. A system that can “see” current medications, medical history and recent lab results is far more useful than a static medical database. And believe it or not, many tools in the market still operate closer to the latter.

Merak Capital’s decision to lead the round is notable. The Saudi-based multi-strategy firm manages over SAR 3 billion across ten funds, spanning venture capital, private equity and credit. It is not strictly a healthcare specialist, which arguably gives this bet more weight. Abdulelah Alshareef, Principal of Venture Capital at Merak Capital, described healthcare as a critical area for impact, adding that Hakeem addresses key challenges in clinical decision-making by enabling faster and more accurate assessments that can improve patient outcomes.

Sanabil 500’s participation also adds a strong regional backing, linking the company to one of the most active early-stage networks globally.

Bilal Adi, Founder and CEO of Hakeem Health, said the company’s mission is to help clinicians make better decisions, faster, so that patients receive better care. He noted that the new funding will support expansion of HakeemDx across hospitals and health systems in the GCC and further development of AI solutions that clinicians trust.

The company operates on a SaaS model, targeting hospitals, universities and healthcare payers with recurring contracts. That makes sense, especially in institutional healthcare where procurement cycles are long and switching systems is anything but easy. Once a platform becomes embedded in everyday clinical decisions, it is hard to rip it out.

There is also a broader shift happening. For years, digital health investment in the region leaned heavily towards patient-facing apps, booking platforms, telemedicine, pharmacy delivery. Useful, yes. But the infrastructure inside hospitals received less attention. Now, under programmes like Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, there is a stronger push towards AI-driven clinical support and deeper system integration.

On the flip side, the real test will be clinical validation. Hospitals, especially those under international accreditation standards, will want clear outcome data before committing at scale. I reckon publishing solid evidence from early deployments will be absolutely crucial over the next 12 months.

The bilingual element gives Hakeem a genuine edge in the GCC market. Still, considering how diverse the healthcare workforce is, with large communities speaking Urdu, Tagalog and Hindi, further language expansion could be a logical next step.

From where I stand, this is a space to watch closley. AI in healthcare is often hyped, sometimes prematurely. But tools that are built locally, for local realities, and that focus on productivity and patient safety rather than buzzwords, feel more grounded. If Hakeem Health manages to integrate deeply and prove tangible impact, this could be one of those quiet but spot on bets that reshapes how hospitals in the region operate.

🚀 Got exciting news to share?

If you're a startup founder, VC, or PR agency with big updates—funding rounds, product launches 📢, or company milestones 🎉 — AraGeek English wants to hear from you!

✉️ Send Us Your Story 👇

https://en.arageek.com/send-us-your-story-or-a-news-tip